World According To Women

The Indian Express     9th April 2021     Save    
Context:  Poor status of women warrants for increasing the voice of women in policymaking, including foreign policy. As a non-permanent member of the UNSC and recently elected to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, India has a key role to play.


Gender considerations in India’s foreign policy:

  • Under the development assistance paradigm and peacekeeping: In 2007, India deployed the first ever female unit to the United Nations Mission in Libya.
  • Support to gender empowerment programmes: Through various international organisations.
  • Making women the engines for inclusive and sustainable growth.
  • Gender component in overseas programmes: E.g. as seen in Afghanistan, Lesotho and Cambodia.
  • Gender budget exercise within the Ministry of External Affairs.

Poor status of Women

  • Political participation:  According to annual Gender Gap Report 2021 (by World Economic Forum)-
    • Globally, women hold only 26 % of parliamentary seats and 22 % of ministerial positions.
    • In India, the number of ministers declined from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1% in 2021.
  • Presence of regressive laws: Many countries prohibit them from doing certain jobs, and domestic violence is not punishable.

Significance of a feminist foreign policy: As a way to increase the voice of women in policymaking.

  • Origin: Feminist approaches to international affairs can be traced back to the 1980s but was first introduced and advocated as a political framework by Sweden in 2014.
  • Benefits:
    • Translated to a bottom-up development approach: With a donor-based mindset that benefits the recipient (particularly helpful in peacekeeping and peacebuilding).
    • Creates diversity in thinking: Data indicates that the inclusion of diverse voices makes for a better basket of options in decision making.
  • Issues: Limited to a small circle in North America and Europe (Canada, France, Germany and, more recently, Mexico have adopted this).

Way forward: Go beyond a pure development model to wider access, representation and decision making.

  • Feminist policy on the domestic front: The WEF report call to do better on the domestic front; no matter how “feminist” our foreign and security policy might be, without balance at home, it will not last.
  • Create a unique feminist foreign policy:
    • Sensitize and shape global discussions around gender mainstreaming.
    • Broaden gender-based foreign assistance.
    • Provide space for decision making: By eliminating barriers to participation in politics, diplomacy, the bureaucracy, and military etc